Girlfriend
by CaraMiaMilo
Summary: SPOILER, maybe (Ch 4 new)
1. Meeting Maggie

OK, so I've been studiously ignoring the tip about Jess having a girlfriend when Rory gets back from Washington, but   
this is my attempt to deal with it.   
  
Summary: Jess attends summerschool and meets someone interesting.  
  
  
  
Jess watched Rory and Lorelai from about a block away. So she really was going to Washington without saying   
anything to him about their kiss. She was still with Dean. He shoved his hands in his pockets and shook his head. Oh   
well, everyone would just give him grief if he tried to date her anyway. He wasn't good enough for the town princess.   
  
He went into the diner and walked behind the counter, noticing that they were low on coffee and getting ready to make   
another pot.   
  
"Hey Jess," Luke commented. "You got information from school upstairs about summer-school. Are you definitely   
going to take both trig and history? You've got to do at least the history if you want to graduate with your class."  
  
"I know. I'm going to do both. I'll mess with the paperwork tonight; thanks."   
  
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two weeks later...  
  
Jess slouched in his desk, reading. He heard shuffling and looked up, right at an attractive, slender and and very   
feminine rear end apparently preparing to sit in the desk in front of him. He smirked, ogling appreciatively, when   
the girl suddenly turned around and caught him.   
  
"What are you looking at?" She put her hands in her back pockets and fixed him with a sarcastic glare.  
  
"Well, I was looking at your ass, until you turned around and deprived me of the opportunity." He eyed her low-slung   
black jeans and olive top appreciatively. "The front's pretty nice too, but you could turn around and let me   
compare..."  
  
"Do I get to see yours?" The girl smirked back at him. "I mean, it's only fair. You've been sitting the whole time   
I've been here."  
  
"Well, I dunno," Jess put on a contemplative face. "I don't even know you."  
  
"Figures." The girl rolled her eyes and shot him a fake smile. "Sorry. You'll just have to pay attention; maybe   
you can catch a glimpse of my gorgeous butt when I leave the room." She slid into her desk.  
  
"Ooh ooh, there it was, just for a second. A glimpse, a fleeting glimpse. Be still my heart!" He made exaggerated   
heart-attack gestures and the girl turned around, putting her arms on his desk and eyeing him sardonically.   
  
"Are you going to be a jerk all summer or could we just get it out of the way this morning? I'd like to know now   
so I can decide whether sitting next to the windows is worth putting up with you."  
  
Jess finally laughed, looking apologetic, and shot her a genuine smile. "I promise not to be a jerk anymore. But   
you have to tell me your name. I know you were in my trig class, but you always left in a hurry, so we never   
really met."  
  
"I'm Maggie. I go a half day at the arts high school in Hartford in the afternoons, so I only took morning   
classes here in Stars Hollow. I had to leave trig to catch the bus."  
  
"I'm Jess."  
  
"I know who you are. You came after the start of the year so everyone knew who you were. And you stole the   
baseballs."  
  
"Slander! That was so not me." He raised his hands and looked heavenward. "How long do I have to protest   
about this?"  
  
Maggie chuckled. "Whatever you say Mariano." She pointed to his book. "Guess you didn't flunk English, huh?"  
  
"No, it's 'bout my only good subject. You?"  
  
"I suck at English, but I passed. Math's just hopeless, and I'm taking history 'cause I couldn't work it   
into my schedule last year."  
  
"Well, gosh, what luck; you're in both my classes."  
  
"Oh goody, we can study together."  
  
Jess stopped being sarcastic and shot her a warm look. "The possibilities are endless."  
  
At that moment, the teacher came into the room, so Maggie turned around and class began. 


	2. Making Out

Jess was leaning up against the brick wall of the school, smoking a cigarette and watching Maggie, who was sitting   
in the middle of the kids merry-go-round, drawing. She looked up and watched him back for a few seconds, then   
dropped the sketchpad on her backpack and walked toward him.   
  
"Every time I see you, Mariano, you're watching me."  
  
"I like watching you."  
  
Maggie stepped closer to him, took the cigarette out of his hand and dragged on it. She turned her head and   
blew the smoke out away from him, then dropped the butt and put it out with the toe of her boot. She slid her   
hand between Jess's waist and elbow, flattening her palm against the wall and leaning toward him. She tilted  
her face up toward his and her other hand traced patterns on his chest. "Maybe I need to keep a closer eye   
on you."   
  
Jess slid one hand against the back of her neck and pressed the other against the small of her back. "The closer  
the better," he murmured against her mouth before kissing her.  
------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Jess opened the door to Maggie's house and headed down the stairs to the basement. After her mother had died,   
Maggie had taken over the basement for her room and studio. It was full of easels and covered with oilcloth and   
paint. Maggie was sitting on a stool in front of her easel when Jess came through her door and plopped down on her   
bed.   
  
"Hiya bookworm. What's shakin'?"  
  
"It's Thursday night in Stars Hollow. Nothing is shakin'"  
  
Maggie looked at him over the top of her glasses. "Maybe we could do something about that."  
  
Jess affected a breathy southern belle accent. "Why Miss O'Donald, if I didn't know better, I would say you were   
propositioning me. I am just not that kind of man."  
  
Maggie set her glasses on the easel and jumped off the stool. Jess moved to the edge of the bed and Maggie stood   
in between his legs. "Why Mr. Mariano, you must think I have a terrible memory." Jess's hands slid under her   
paint-spattered shirt and skimmed her waist. "Just last night you were exactly that kind of man." She pushed him  
back on the bed and straddled him, pulling her t-shirt over her head and baring her breasts to him. His eyes darkened  
and his thumbs dragged over her nipples and his fingers caressed the outside swell almost under her arm. Her hips  
bucked against him and he sat up, flipping her so she was on her back and he was looking down at her.  
  
Jess pulled off his shirt and pressed his bare chest against hers. "I think I need reminding...what exactly  
did we do last night?" he whispered, smiling, before his mouth claimed hers.   
--------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"No, Jess, don't! I don't want to study. It's just stupid old trig." Jess was dragging Maggie toward the diner.  
  
"Megs, it's 8pm and the test is tomorrow morning. Your portfolio can wait for three hours while we work on the   
stuff you missed on the last quiz. You don't need to make an A; you just need to pass. But if you don't study  
at ALL, you'll be taking this stupid old trig in the fall too, and seriously hating life. If you pass now you get  
one extra study hall when you can DRAW all you want."  
  
"OK, ok, ok. You win."  
  
"Thatta girl." Jess patted her on the back and opened the door.   
  
"But you have to give me brownies."  
  
Jess rolled his eyes. "Anything for you."  
  
Maggie raised an eyebrow. "And you have to kiss me."  
  
Jess pecked her forehead. "I don't like the direction this is going. Next thing I know you'll have us naked in the   
storeroom, and you'll still be flunking your test."  
  
Maggie looked chagrined. "Damn. You're onto me."  
  
Jess laughed. "I am the mighty academic taskmaster. Get to work, wench!" He wrapped his arms around her and pressed  
his mouth to hers, tangling his tongue with hers, then dragging his lips against her neck.  
  
"Jess..."  
  
He reached behind her and grabbed the textbook, grinning at her. "Tomorrow...we'll celebrate your passing the   
test..."  
  
Maggie's expression was resigned as she sat down and opened the book while Jess went to find brownies. 


	3. Rory Returns

Maggie sat in the gazebo, cross-legged on the bench. Her sketchpad was on her lap and she was drawing Jess   
as he read.   
  
"Hey," she called softly to him. "Turn toward me a little so I can see more of your face?"   
  
Jess looked up and smiled at her, then turned a bit. She could see his eyes light on something in the distance and   
his face fell.  
  
"What?" Maggie turned to see what had upset him. Just people...  
  
"She's baaack," Jess sang.   
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Rory Gilmore, town princess."  
  
Maggie turned again, saw Rory, then looked back at Jess. "I didn't know she'd gone."  
  
"Yeah, she won vice-president of her snooty private school class and went to this workshop in Washington DC. Guess   
she's home now. Not that she would have come to see me." Maggie heard the edge in Jess's voice.  
  
"There's a story in there somewhere."  
  
"Not really." He turned back to look at Maggie. "We were friends, I thought. Her mom and my uncle are really close.   
She kissed me once, but then she just...it just didn't seem to make any difference. Guess I just wasn't good enough  
for the town princess. That was back in May; I haven't talked to her since. Last I knew she's still with that   
Dean guy. The one with all the hair."  
  
"You're still hung up on her, though." Maggie smiled at him.  
  
Jess realized he was talking to his girlfriend and looked worried. "Megs, I..."  
  
"Hey, it's okay. I've got one of those too." Jess raised an eyebrow. "His name was Brian. He was in my sculpture   
class." She set down her pad and leaned her head back. "So beautiful; he looks like that guy, the lead singer for   
Train. We hung out for awhile, I thought we were having fun, but then one day he shows up arm-in-arm with this   
red-headed violinist."  
  
"Bitch," Jess said, smiling, and she grinned at him.   
  
"Turns out their grandmothers are both in the same social society or something. I think his family freaked about   
him hanging around a motherless girl from a small town who always had paint on her face."  
  
Jess leaned over to rub a charcoal smear off her nose, showing her the mark and chuckling. "I think it's sexy when   
you have paint on your face."  
  
"You think it's sexy when I have paint anywhere on me." She grabbed his shirt and pulled him down onto the gazebo  
bench, kissing him and laughing.   
  
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Rory's face twisted when the girl in the gazebo tackled Jess. Her eyes filled with tears, and she turned away,   
crashing into her mother.   
  
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, tears. Why are there tears?" Lorelai pulled Rory's face up to look at her. "What's wrong?"  
  
Rory looked back towards the gazebo, where Jess had regained the upper hand and had Maggie on his lap, still kissing   
her.  
  
"OK, I see Kirk juggling, and I see...oh. I see Jess kissing Maggie. Rory, sweetie? Why does that bother you enough   
to make you cry?"  
  
"It's not that, it's just...oh Mom. Jess and I aren't friends anymore, and I wish we were, and it just makes me   
really sad."  
  
"What did he do? You could get Dean to kick his ass."  
  
Rory smiled. "Not for this. Jess didn't do anything, Mom. I did."  
  
"What do you mean, you did? You don't do things to your friends. You're perfect. Completely honest. The nicest   
person I know."  
  
"Yeah, well, not anymore."  
  
Lorelai realized how serious her daughter was being. Rory really did believe she'd done something to Jess that   
had cost them their friendship. She sat down on a bench and pulled Rory down next to her. "Rory, honey, what   
happened? You gotta tell me; I can't help you if you don't tell me."  
  
"Nobody can help me with this one, Mom. You remember back at Sookie and Jackson's wedding, the day Jess came back?"  
  
"Yeah." Lorelai's voice was sad. That hadn't been a good day for her either.  
  
"I saw Jess before the wedding," Rory confessed. Her mother looked surprised. "And I was just so glad he was back,   
so I kissed him."  
  
"You kissed him?" Now Lorelai looked stunned. "Wow."   
  
"Yeah." Rory made a frustrated sobbing noise. "Mom, how could I have done something like that? I love Dean. And   
even if I didn't, I'm still involved with Dean. It was just a completely duplicitious thing to do!"  
  
"Rory, why did you kiss him?"  
  
"I don't know! I wasn't thinking; it wasn't like I just thought it out and decided that the best possible thing I   
could do at that precise moment was grab Jess and make out with him. I didn't think; I just did it! It just felt   
completely like the right thing to do, until it was over and I totally panicked and ran off."  
  
"Have you talked with him about it?"  
  
"NO! I can't talk to him about it; I can't explain why I did it. What would I say to him? I couldn't say anything  
without hurting his feelings. I haven't talked to him at all since the wedding, and I think that's probably hurt  
his feelings too. Plus I haven't told Dean either; I haven't told anyone but you."   
  
"This is why you were avoiding Luke's."  
  
"Yeah." Rory nodded her head. "Mom, I don't know what I'm feeling. I know it was wrong to kiss Jess, and I feel   
really bad about doing it, and I don't want to break up with Dean--I love Dean--but, oh Mom." Rory sobbed and   
looked over toward the gazebo. "I can't stand it when he kisses her." Rory bent over and buried her head in   
her arms. "I'm so mixed up."  
  
"Rory, sweetie. It wasn't wrong to kiss Jess. It's wrong to go on lying to yourself and to everyone else, especially  
Dean, about how you feel about Jess."  
  
"But I love Dean. He's so good to me. He treats me so well. I can't not love Dean! I can't be in love with Jess! I   
just can't!" Rory sobbed again, tears pouring down her face.   
  
Lorelai wrapped her arms around her daughter and stroked her hair until she was tired of crying and ready to go home.  
  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 


	4. Kiss Me

Girlfriend  
Chapter 4  
Kiss Me  
  
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Maggie walked around the bookstore, looking bored. How could Jess spend so much time in here? She'd exhausted  
the art section in about 15 minutes. She walked over to where Jess was leaning up against a shelf of books,   
reading. "Hey babe. I'm gonna go sit on the bench out front and draw--you're clearly okay here on your own."   
  
Jess shot her a rueful smile. "You're bored. I'm sorry..."  
  
"Hey, I'm not complaining." She patted the sketch pad in her back pocket. "I'm packing, so I'm good." She raised up   
on her toes to kiss his cheek. "See you afterwhile."  
  
Maggie walked to the front of the store and pushed open the door, almost crashing into a taller girl on her way in.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you..." Maggie looked at the girl's face and recognized Rory. "Oh, hi, Rory. I'm   
Maggie--I don't know if you remember me..."  
  
Rory nodded but her smile was wan. "I do...you always drew caricatures of the teachers on the blackboards between   
classes. Very entertaining. It's nice to see you again." Rory fidgeted and made an effort to look and sound   
nonchalant. "How's Jess?"  
  
Maggie heard the wistful note in Rory's voice and looked closely at her, trying to gauge what she was thinking.   
"You should go ask him yourself; he's in the back of the store, reading something heavy with no pictures. I've got   
a project due for drawing class on Friday so I abandoned him. I can't believe we're only three weeks into fall and  
I have this much homework."  
  
Rory nodded. "My sympathies; Chilton had me overwhelmed by the end of the first week."   
  
Maggie noticed the slightly panicked look that had appeared on Rory's face when she realized Jess was in the store.   
"He mentioned that you'd been to Washington this summer, so it sounds like you didn't have too much time off."  
  
"Not nearly enough. August came around too fast. I had this long list of books to read and things to do that just   
didn't get done."   
  
Maggie laughed. "You sound like Jess. We took trig and history together in summerschool and he complained constantly  
about how homework cut into his reading time. You really should go talk to him, Rory." Rory's expression turned slightly   
puzzled and Maggie spoke softly. "I think he missed you." She looked away and pointed to the bench across the street.   
"Well, I guess I'm off to sketch some wildlife. It really is nice to see you. Maybe I'll see you again sometime."   
Maggie waved and headed off over the street, leaving Rory standing in the doorway, watching her and looking   
confused.   
  
--------------------------------------------  
Rory let the door to the bookstore close and leaned up against the front window. Why was Jess's girlfriend telling   
her to talk to Jess? He must not have told her about the kiss. Or, maybe he did tell her about the kiss, but   
convinced her that it hadn't meant anything to him. No, that didn't make sense either--no girl would be that   
un-jealous of someone who clearly had the hots for her boyfriend. 'I do NOT have the hots for Jess,' Rory   
chastised herself. She wandered into the bookstore, still a bit wrapped up in her thoughts, and collided squarely   
with the subject of her denial.   
  
Jess's hands caught her by the waist, steadying her. "Rory," he murmurred. He felt his own breath become ragged.   
He was actually touching her. "You okay?" He couldn't stop himself from staring. It had been so long since he was  
this close to her. She looked up at him and nodded, her eyes locking with his. He couldn't believe the expression   
in her eyes as they stared at each other, and when she dropped her eyes to his mouth, then looked back into his   
eyes, he could see her remember what it felt like to kiss him. Fierce heat poured through his body. She moistened  
her lips, and he couldn't resist. He wrapped his arms tighter around her waist, pulling her against him, and   
pressed his lips to hers.  
  
Rory gasped as she felt the heat of Jess's mouth. She parted her lips, giving Jess room to drag his tongue against  
her teeth and she moaned at the unfamiliar intimacy. Jess pushed deeper into her mouth, tangling his tongue with   
hers and her senses flooded with his unique taste. Rory felt herself go limp in his arms, giving in completely to   
his searching caresses, and Jess slid his hand lower down her back, lifting her slightly off the floor and   
pressing her hips tighter against his.   
  
Jess broke the kiss and whispered against her mouth, "Rory." He pulled back and the look on her face overwhelmed   
him. "Bookstore." He watched the realization that anyone could see them wash over her face and saw panic replace   
passion in her eyes. "Don't run away." He reached for her, but she had already begun to back away, her   
face stricken.   
  
"Jess." She shook her head as if to clear it. "Maggie. What about Maggie?" Rory's voice broke and she covered her   
mouth with her hand, then turned and ran from the bookstore. Jess, his expression dazed, slowly followed her path   
out the door.   
  
-------------------------------------------------  
Maggie heard the door to the bookstore slam against its hinges and saw Rory running down the sidewalk. She set down   
her pencil, preparing to get up and see what had happened, when she spotted Jess standing in front of the bookstore,   
looking stunned. He mechanically walked toward her, then sat down on the bench next to her, staring straight ahead.   
Maggie turned to face him, pulling her legs Indian-style underneath her.   
  
"Whassup, Jessie? You don't look like you guys were talking about Chaucer in there."  
  
Jess slowly turned to face Maggie. "Megs, I...I." He sighed and Maggie saw the brightness in his eyes. "I don't know   
how to say this."  
  
Maggie put the pieces together quickly. "You kissed her."   
  
He nodded and watched her for a moment. "You don't look mad."  
  
"I'm not mad." Maggie scooted closer to him and looked directly in his eyes. "I've always known that we weren't in   
love, Jess. The sex was just a fast track to friendship, you know? Easy way to establish trust and intimacy from the   
beginning. We both wanted it; it was fun. Beautiful. But I never thought it was happily ever after. I hope we'll   
always be close friends, but I want you to be happy. And Rory makes you happy in a way I never could."  
  
Jess laughed and leaned back, rubbing his forehead with the base of his palms. "You're supposed to think I'm a   
complete jerk who just used you for your body."  
  
Maggie grinned at him. "Hey, I think I benefitted quite a bit from your use of my body, thank you very much." Her   
expression turned softer. "Actually, I'm jealous. Must be nice to have the person you love love you back."  
  
Jess turned to face her and caressed her cheek. "I should kick that guy's ass."   
  
Maggie chuckled wryly and shook her head. "Wouldn't do any good. Not worth losing sleep over."  
  
"He's an idiot." Jess stood up and offered her his hand. "I'm still gonna kick his ass if I ever meet him. Or at   
least call him a few multisyllabic insults."  
  
Maggie wrapped her arms around him for a quick hug. "You're a good friend, Mariano."  
  
"The best." Jess tilted her face up, forcing her to look at him. "Don't you forget it. Maggie, whatever happens  
with me and Rory..."  
  
Maggie placed two fingers on his lips to stop him. "I know. Same here. She's a really lucky girl."   
  
"I hope she sees it that way. I mean, I know she wants me, but I don't know if she'll let herself accept that   
what's between us is worth anything. Far as I know she's still hanging with the bag boy."  
  
"Idiot. Maybe that schmancy private school'll have taught her something more than derivatives."   
  
Jess chuckled and grabbed Maggie's backpack. "C'mon, I'll walk you home."  
  
Jess smiled at her, throwing an arm around her shoulders as they walked, laughing, down the sidewalk toward her   
house. 


End file.
